"Settle down!" Sam shouted over them. "We knew that one of you would be bound to her, we just didn't think it would be Lynn. Nothing changes, they're still one of us."

The Alpha sent the girls a look, and the three were quick to sit. Andy easily slipped herself into her spot on Quil's lap. Slowly, she coxed him from his shocked state. Wide eyes met her worried ones and he wrapped himself around her, pulling her incredibly close.

'Are you alright?' she mouthed the to him, carefully observing his eyes. He seemed upset- more so upset than anything else. She could feel an anguish that pumped through her like a sickness, and spread the longer that they sat together. She frowned at the way his eyes wrinkled at the corners and his jaw ticked.

His eyes flickered down to meet hers causing her frown to deepen at the way he simply nodded. She wanted to say something, but no words came to her. His pain hurt her more than she could ever understand- though what hurt her most was that she did not know what she could do to help.

"That was the story of the spirit warriors," Old Quil began in a thin tenor, her attention snapping to him. "This is the story of the third wife."

Tensing, she clenched her eyes and buried her head into his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" he whispered, his lips brushing against her ear softly.

"No more stories," she whimpered. "I don't want to see anything else, it's so hard and stressful. Can we leave?"

A shocked gasp left her lips as he readjusted his hold on her and stood from his spot. She had no time to see either Bella, Lynn, or Leah before they were out of sight. He moved too quickly, and it seemed like he was ready to leave with her before she even said a word.

She held to him tightly, gripping him as she swayed slightly in his arms. His feet carried them across the sand confidently, his strides long and purposeful. He was warm, his heat making up for the lack of the fire.

"Where are we going?" she asked. Her face was so very close to his, her small body fit against his perfectly.

"Just a little further up the beach, far enough away that they can't hear us," he replied, barely sparing her a glance.

"But don't you want to be able to hear the legends? Isn't this your first time hearing them as well?" questioned him.

Quil's eyes flickered to hers briefly. "I'd rather you be comfortable, than hear the stories with the others. Plus, I've already heard them all before, you're the one that's really missing out."

Andy grumbled under her breath, mocking him playfully. She found it incongruous that he always placed her before himself.

"But what about you? Did you want to be there? Spending time with them?" she pressed.

"I'd rather spend time with you over everyone- anything," he told her, the sincerity that she felt coming from him sent butterflies in her stomach. The way he spoke to her, the way he spoke about her was almost surreal- it was perfection, basically what every girl dreams of hearing.

"Since when have you been so romantic?" she teased, patting his chest lightly.

"For you?" he looked down at her with a grin. "Always."

Andy blinked once, his words ringing in her head. She sputtered out unintelligible sentences- her mind blank.

"What?" she breathed in disbelief.

Quil didn't say anything in return. Only sitting on the sand with her still held tightly in his arms. The waves lapped against the shore, soaking the sand. On the water, she could see he moon, its reflection shimmering. She wondered how deep it went.

He took one of her hands in his, large fingers playing with her petite ones distractedly. Freezing skin collided with fiery touch, the sensation burning into her skin. She memorized his every movement. Mesmerized by the bulging of muscles and tendons, captivated by how relaxed he was in every movement.

"The story of the first wife is different from the Spirit Warriors. The Chief, after many years, had stopped shifting when he met his third wife. She was his everything and he wanted to spend the rest of his years with her," Quil spoke quietly. "Cold ones came, bringing with them so much death and pain. The first was a man, one that they tore apart and burned, scattering the pieces; an enemy to the Makah tribe.

"The strange creature had been stealing young woman from their homes. The Chief sent the shifters to investigate once the neighbouring tribe blamed the wolf-shifters. All they could find was a sweet burning scent with traces of blood. The wolfs followed it north, sending the youngest back home. The elders never returned.

"The younger brothers- because the pack was made of family- went searching for the elders, but they never caught a trail. The Chief mourned the death of his sons and went to the Makah tribe. They found peace. A year later, two maidens disappeared from their homes, the Makah chief immediately called upon the Quileute's who found the same sweet scent.

"Out of all the wolves that left, only one came back. The oldest son to the Chief's third wife. He returned carrying pieces that resembled stone upon first glance. All those related to the Chief but could not shift could smell it.

"The elders examined it. they set in on fire when it began to piece itself together. The placed the ashes in bags and distributed them around far apart. The Chief kept one around his neck so he would be warned if the creature tried to put itself back together because they were crazy scared of it."

Andy gasped, drawing Quil's attention to her. "He kept it around his neck? Didn't it bther him, or others?"

"Well yeah, babe, but they only had one shifter left and they were scared. Plus, they had no idea that if it was alone or not.," he explained. "Now, hush. Okay, uh- another Cold One came, a woman that was more beautiful than they had ever seen. She was paler than snow, with skin that glittered in the sun.

"She spoke in a high voice, a language that none of them understood. They would have never known if it wasn't for a young boy, one of the Chief's blood, that complained of his nose burning. An Elder overheard, quickly telling them to run- the woman killed him first. She called all but two but only because she grew distracted by the blood. There were twenty who witnessed this.

"The survivor's ran to the Chief, who sat in council with the other elders, his son and the third wife. The son was first to leave, racing to find the Cold Woman. His wife had been out in the village with their son, speaking to the people- she was the packs Valerian, his other half and the one she bonded with.

"The Chief's son grew enraged at the sight of his dead family, quickly transforming to his wolf and hunting own the Cold Woman. The Chief railed behind, only finding the evidence that the Woman had left behind.

"The lonely wolf faced down the Cold One, hoping to protect his people and avenge his family. He lost to her. The Chief screamed at her, shifting- he was an old wolf but he remained strong. They fought. The Third Wife, who had just seen her son die, who had just seen the remains of her people and her grandchild, could not stand to watch her husband die as well.

"She had heard every word the witnesses had said, heard the story of her son's victory and knew watch she must do.

"She had grabbed a knife from the belt of one of the sons who stood before her. they were all young, not yet men, and she knew they would watch their father die. She ran forward towards the Cold One, and swiftly stabbed herself in the stomach. Blood poured from the wound, slpahing onto the Cold Woman, and the blood drinker could not resist. The Cold Woman turned towards the Third Wife for a single second.

"The Chief's great wolf closed his teeth around the Cold One's neck. Watching their mother die, two young sons leapt forward, shifting from the intense rage they felt. Together they tore the Cold Woman to pieces. The Chief never rejoined the tribe, he remained by his wife's side for a day before disappearing into the forest," Quil took a deep breath. "The sons continued to shift, protecting the tribe from the cold ones. And that's the story of the first wife."

She could only stare at him with wide eyes as he trailed off. She wanted to say something, she had so many questions but she had no idea of where to start.

"Wow," she breathed.

"Yeah," he rubbed the back of his neck. "It might not be all right, though. I don't know it as well as the elders do."

"You seem to know it pretty well," she mumbled cheekily.

Chuckling, he rested his forehead on the top of her head. "There's something I need to tell you."

Shifting around, she sat neck to him on the sand. She faced him expectantly with wide eyes. The lack of warmth was immediate, a chill ran down her spine.

"The third wife was more than just a wife, and the valerian was more than a wife to the son. There's this thin that wolves do, we can't choose when it happens or to who," Quil stumbled over his words. "It's a connection- different from hat you share with Lynn, but not all that much I guess. The others- they describe it as gravity shifting, but it's so much more than that.

"It's more like every part of me is drawn to you. Every cell, down to the smallest atom, screams your name and it all makes perfect sense. You don't hold me down to the earth like gravity, you are the earth. Without you I would be so impossibly lost because you're the only thing that matters. You're the sun- no, you're stardust that makes up every universe and galaxy and without you I would be felt with nothing.

"I would do anything for you, be anything for you," Quil stammered. "Protector, brother, fried, lover- anything, it doesn't matter. I don't care as long as I'm with you. That's why I got upset over the Lynn situation; I'm supposed to be protector for you."

"What?" she whispered.

"It's called an imprint. It happens the moment you look into her eyes," he explains. "It's like all of a sudden everything makes sense and things just fall into place because you know it will always be her."

Breathing was a thing that occurred naturally, something that just happens. Your body knows when it needs air and then I will function, alerting you of any problems. When you're drowning, it's different. You try and try to keep the water out until the last second as you struggle, only letting the water in at the last second. It's your fight of flight reflex kicking in. it's a survival instinct that causes you to feel as though you're in agonizing pain.

This kind of felt like drowning. She felt assaulted by a tidal wave of emotion. Air was unimaginable as her head screamed one thing and her heart another- her body screamed as well, screamed of the agony that emotions were causing on her. She felt everything he did, all the worry, fear, love, anxiety- she could also feel her own emotions, similar to his but doubt and anger floated in the mix.

Her heart- it sang the love it felt knowing that this boy in front of her belonged to her. it was something that every person in love yearned to hear. Every love song and romance novel spoke of the emotin, but they could never quite capture the sensation.

Her head- it screamed, protested everything he said because certain things floated prominent. He had known, from the moment his eyes met hers (she presumed as a wolf) yet he had only just said something. Andy was aware that they weren't exactly speaking, but she believed that something along the lines of soulmates was an important detail that she deserved to know.

Scrambling to her feet, she didn't spare him a glance as she began to make her way up the sand. She wobbled and shivered, her hair whipped at her face in the wind but she continued to move.

"Wait- Andy!" he rambled, his feet sticking to her skin.

"No! How long have you known? Did you no think it was important for me to know?" she spat out at him.

"Well, yes but we weren't exactly talking," he pointed out.

Stopping abruptly, she faced him with a glare and shoved him back. His chest was firm and his body heavy but he still stumbled back- even if only from shock.

"I am aware of that!" she screeched. "Do you not think I don't know that?! I was terrified of you, but not once did you let on that it was this important!"

"How could I have said anything if you weren't talking to me?" he argued.

"You didn't even try! Not really. Not one voicemail implied that you ante to talk about anything other than the fact that you turn into a giant wolf!" Andy shouted. "You do realise how scary that s, right? No matter how cool you thin it is, it's fucking scary! Turns out there were other things that are scarier, seeing as you have some animalistic claim on me!"

Turning on him, she stormed her way up closer towards the fire. People were watching them, it was easy for them to make out their faces in the fire.

"Hey!" he trailed after her. "It's not some animal claim. Is that what you're really upset about?"

"No! No, I am perfectly fine with the fact that I am yours completely," she whispered to him, unable to stop the tears that ran down her face. "I love you, honestly and truly. What bothers me is that doubt that's eating up at me, poisoning me from the inside. I don't- I have no idea if what you feel for me is because of some imprint or if it's real."

Quil reached for her in a panic, eyes wide as he took her in. "Andy, I love you so much, more than anything."

"See that's the thing," she said sadly. "I- I just don't now if you really do."

***

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I said i would update monday. so here it is. enjoy.

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